Thursday, January 05, 2006

The Crazy World of Pet Adoption

I know there's going to be some dog-loving nut who's going to read this and get all offended, but I don't care. Please know the following post is not directed to those who own pets and love them dearly. This is about some strange brand of human that has a difficult time communicating with other humans and yet will go to the ends of the earth for a dog...and expect you to do the same.

I met my first dog possibility tonight. He is a cocker spaniel. After reading about this breed...gotta love the library...and meeting the dog, I know I can dig the cocker spaniel. They are cute and intelligent and mellow and quiet. However...I can't get into this dog. First of all, he's older than eight...much older. He's not middle-aged, he's old. He walks like an old man and has cataracts and lots of grey hair and has large, strange growths on his penis. He's also taken!!! Another adopter wants him, but is just out of town right now. They did the old bait-and-switch. Luckily the other cocker spaniels that are available are "younger." I tell the foster owner I want to meet them and later this evening I get an email from the foster coordinator asking if I want to foster two dogs that will be shipped to Connecticut in two weeks! Not only did she not offer me what I asked for, she did it in a weird cyberspeak that I have never seen.
"will b in shltr late afternoon p/u post op cats too. as to fostering...if y know y r only doign it for a wk or 2, y don't get too attached. and y do s.t. great."
What?!?!? I want to adopt a dog for forever...how hard is this for them to understand?

I put a posting on Craig's List asking for any leads on an adult small dog. A guy named Stephen responded saying he may have a dog for me. So I call him up and he doesn't have a dog...he just has "connections" and some shelters in Brooklyn. What does it mean to have a connection to an animal shelter? Is that like having a connection to a club or to the Mob? He was very willing to drive me to these shelters anytime I wanted "a lift." Umm...can you say "creepy?"

You see what I've been dealing with?

Anywhoo, I'm thinking it might be in my best interest to bring my friend who knows about dogs to the shelter and adopting one from the source. These middlemen and women are weirding me out.

P.S. I have a name for the dog if it's a boy, but I don't have one if it's a girl. Any suggestions?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dogs are great! Good for you for adopting.

As for girl names, possibilities are endless. I have two girl dogs, Okie and Stella, but I call them Beyatch and Stinky.

I can't wait to find out what kind you end up adpoting. It's weird the way they love you instantly and you love them instantly and you just connect...

Melissa said...

Duke (mah big ol' mastiff) is a rescue pup we adopted through a shelter but from the vet directly - if you can follow that one. You'll probably be required to sign your life away when you adopt, I know my boyfriend did when he found the Dukester. But don't be scared by the paperwork.

Have you tried Petfinder.com? That's how we found Duke. They work with agencies and groups that are affiliated with lots of shelters and pet rescue organizations.